Office of Arts & Culture news and events

The “Parking Squid” for bikes is under construction! Decorative Metal Arts, a metal fabricator located in SODO, is fabricating this bike rack designed by local artist Susan Robb. The structure is made from galvanized steel and is funded by Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) 1% for Art funds administered by the Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs. This unique bike rack provides parking for eight bikes and is being installed at Seattle Center in early May.

The installation is part of The Next Fifty Sustainable Futures celebration and will be found near The Next Fifty Plaza and Harrison Street entrance. So hop on your bike, check out the great events at the Seattle Center and take advantage of The Parking Squid.

Look beneath your feet and you’ll see sidewalk artwork by Seattle artist John Fleming at 12 locations throughout Seattle. Intended to draw the attention of pedestrians through beauty, surprise and humor, the inlays introduce the element of the unexpected into the everyday sidewalk. There are two different designs, each a four-by-four-foot square. The inlays are currently being installed and should all be in place by mid-November.

The inlays are part of Seattle Department of Transportation’s (SDOT) Sidewalk Development Program. Fleming worked with SDOT and the Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs to design and develop the artworks.

Fleming states, “My sidewalk art uses material common to the public right-of-way. But it uses this common material in a surprisingly uncommon way. Yellow detectable warning panels are found at the sidewalk corners of most Seattle streets. In my artwork, I combined these durable dotted panels with the messages ‘Where are you?’ and ‘You are here.’ Used in this new way, the colorful sidewalk panels become unique markers in your neighborhood.”

To see the specific locations where the art will be installed, please visit SDOT’s website and click the sidewalk project locations near the bottom of the page.